breakup

[ breyk-uhp ]

noun

1. disintegration; disruption; dispersal.
2. the ending of a personal, especially a romantic, relationship.
3. (in Alaska and Canada)
   1. the melting and loosening of ice in rivers and harbors during the early spring.
   2. the first day on which such ice is soft or dispersed enough to permit ships to use the waterways.
4. Informal. an act or instance of being convulsed with laughter.
5. temporary distortion in a televised picture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of breakup¹

First recorded in 1785–95; noun use of verb phrase break up

Example Sentences

But even leaving aside President-elect Donald Trump’s open opposition to a Google breakup, legal observers question whether the Justice Department will get what it wants.

From New York Times

The collaborators spent their journey making each other laugh and talking about their first breakups and what it felt like to fall out of love.

From Los Angeles Times

A Chrome divestiture would achieve the kind of corporate breakup that regulators failed to force upon Microsoft two decades ago.

From New York Times

But there was an additional inspiration that might explain why the music evokes such deep reservoirs of feeling: It started off as a breakup song.

From New York Times

“Submarine,” the band’s 2024 LP, documented an intra-band breakup with poise and panache, and featured some of the group’s most precise writing and ambitious production yet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• breakdown
• disintegration
• dissolution
• divorce
• separation
• split
• termination